VOA慢速英語：波多黎各投票成為美國第51個州

Puerto Ricans Vote to Become 51st US State

波多黎各投票成為美國第51個州

People living in the American territory of Puerto Rico have voted to become a U.S. state. However, the vote does not have the force of law.

美國領地波多黎各的居民投票選擇成為美國一個州。然而，這次投票不具法律效力。

Only 23 percent of Puerto Rican voters took part in the referendum.

只有23%的波多黎各選民參與了這次全民公投。

Of those who did vote, about 500,000 chose statehood. About 7,500 chose independence and 6,700 voted to remain a territory.

投票者中有大約50萬人選擇州地位，大約7500人主張獨立，還有6700人投票選擇繼續(xù)作為美國領地。

People who live on the Caribbean island are U.S. citizens, but they cannot vote in presidential elections. They have one congressional representative to the United States Congress who has limited voting rights.

這個加勒比海島的居民是美國公民，但是他們不能參與美國總統(tǒng)選舉。他們在美國國會中有一位具有有限投票權(quán)的國會代表。

The island also has its own legislature with a Senate and a House of Representatives.

該島也有自己由參議院和眾議院組成的議會。

The territory's governor Ricardo Rossello said of the vote, "In any democracy, the expressed will of the majority that participates in the electoral process always prevails."

該領地總督里卡多·羅塞略(Ricardo Rossello)表示：“在任何一個民主國家，參與選舉進程的大多數(shù)人表達的意愿總是占據(jù)上風。”

Sunday's vote on the issue of statehood was the fifth of its kind.

周日的這次投票是波多黎各第五次關于州地位問題的投票。

People on the island also voted in 2012 to seek statehood.

該島居民在2012年也曾投票尋求美國州地位。

Puerto Rico struggles with its financial problems

波多黎各財政困難

The vote took place as Puerto Rico seeks protection from its creditors who hold its large public debt.

這次投票發(fā)生在波多黎各尋求承擔了它們大量公共債務的債權(quán)人的保護的時候。

Peter Hakim is a former president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy research group on the Americas. He said the vote is not too meaningful because of low participation.

美洲政策研究組織美洲對話前主席彼得·哈基姆(Peter Hakim)表示，因為參與率低下，這次投票沒有太大意義。

He says competing political parties on the island have called for something other than statehood.

他說，該島上的競爭黨派呼吁的不是州地位問題。

The Popular Democratic Party wants Puerto Rico to remain a territory while the Puerto Rican Independence Party wants the island to become a separate country.

人民民主黨希望波多黎各維持領地地位，而波多黎各獨立黨希望該成為一個獨立國家。

Hakim says the vote takes place as the island faces a serious crisis.

哈基姆表示，這次投票的發(fā)生正值該島面臨嚴重危機。

"Puerto Rico's in the midst of a severe economic and, in many respects, social crisis with large-scale emigration toward the United States."

他說：“波多黎各正值經(jīng)濟嚴峻時期，在很多方面也出現(xiàn)了向美國大規(guī)模移民的社會危機。

He says poor supervision of the Puerto Rican economy and government is partly to blame for its economic situation.

他說，波多黎各的經(jīng)濟和政府缺乏監(jiān)管是其經(jīng)濟形勢的原因之一。

He says the island's current status is in, what he calls, the "undefined zone" in which it is neither a state nor a country.

他說，該島目前的狀況是他所謂的“未確定地帶”，既不是州也不是國家。

"My guess in the end (is) that Puerto Rico would probably be better off if it did become a state."

他說：“我猜到最后波多黎各如果確實成為一個州情況可能會更好。”

Puerto Ricans do not pay federal income tax so the territory does not receive as much federal money as states do. But, the people do pay Social Security and some other U.S. taxes. This causes some people to believe that the island would be better off as a state.

波多黎各不繳納聯(lián)邦所得稅，所以該領地沒有獲得其它州那么多的聯(lián)邦資金。但是，這里的人們繳納社會保障和其它一些美國稅種。這使得一些人認為該島作為美國一個州會更好。

However, Puerto Rico's debt crisis continues to harm its economic growth and ties to the U.S. The economy has been in recession for more than 10 years.

然而，波多黎各的債務危機還在繼續(xù)損害其經(jīng)濟增長以及同美國的聯(lián)系。該島經(jīng)濟已經(jīng)衰退了十多年。

Puerto Rico says it cannot pay back its more than $70 billion debt. The territory also owes its retirement payment plan, or pension, about $50 billion dollars.

波多黎各表示，它們無法償還七百多億的債務。該領地還欠下了大約500億美元的退休金。

Last month, Governor Rosello refused to agree to measures demanded by creditors to make payments on the island's bonds. That started a process for Puerto Rico to seek legal protection from its creditors through a form of bankruptcy. However, the territory is barred from the kind of legal bankruptcy that U.S. cities and towns can seek.

上個月，羅塞略總督拒絕同意債權(quán)人要求清償該島債券的措施。這讓波多黎各開始了通過破產(chǎn)尋求其債權(quán)人法律保護的進程。然而，該領地不能獲得美國城鎮(zhèn)可以尋求的合法破產(chǎn)。

It is unclear how long Puerto Rico's debt negotiations will take.

波多黎各的債務談判將會花費多長時間尚不清楚。

I'm Mario Ritter.

馬里奧·里特報道。